All good girls are scared of me Jail blighted my love life, says Knox’s ex
MAN ACQUITTED OF MEREDITH KERCHER MURDER
THE Italian former boyfriend of Amanda Knox says he is unable to find a “good girl” despite being finally acquitted of the murder of Meredith Kercher.
Raffaele Sollecito said the dark cloud over his links to the brutal stabbing of British student Meredith, 21, a decade ago still causes him problems in his love life.
The 33- year- old, jailed in 2009 for the killing, was eventually cleared after a string of court rulings.
He said: “I spent the last 10 years in a tragedy.
“I was in jail for four years – six months in solitary and three and a half years in a maximum se- curity prison. And today I do not feel completely free, I feel cooped up in a kind of house arrest. “Society still has a negative impression of me. I’m imprisoned by a society that will not let me lead a normal life.” Speaking about his difficulty in getting a girlfriend since clearing his name three years ago, he said: “At times I met girls who were charmed by my ‘black halo’. “But good girls are appalled and scared of me. When I dated girls and they had to tell their families about me, there was always some family member that would get worried because they did not tru trust me. “I w wish I could start my life over, living like everybo everybody else. “I ha have to explain and justi justify myself with ev everybody. “I am innocent and I have been acquitted, but there’s people out there who still doubt me.” But Raffaele said he would not “run away” to somewhere he is unknown because he was not guilty. He insisted: “I’m not ashamed of anything.”
Londoner Meredith, an exchange student from Leeds University, was murdered in Perugia, central Italy, on November 1, 2007.
Her half- naked body was found in her bedroom in a pool of blood in the house she shared with 20-year-old US student Amanda Knox.
Her throat had been slashed and s he had been stabbed 47 times.
Rudy Guede, then also 20 – who had befriended Amanda and her roommates – was found guilty in 2008 of her murder and jailed for 30 years, which was later cut to 16 years.
The following year, Raffaele and Amanda were also found guilty of murder and sentenced to 26 years in jail.
But in 2011 the pair were acquitted after evidence used against them was found to be flawed.
In January 2014, the Italian courts overturned that acquittal and reinstated the guilty verdict.
But the case ultimately went to the Supreme Court and their conviction was definitively overturned in March 2015. Raffaele’s family had sold two flats and run up debts of nearly £350,000 to cover the cost of his legal battle Now the former university student works for an IT firm in the northern city of Parma. And he has launched his own app, called Suntickets. it, which enables sun-seekers to book loungers and shades on the beach directly from their smartphone. Asked whether he still thinks about Meredith, Raffaele said he feels sorry for her – but barely knew her. He said: “Somehow I feel indifferent about this case because I didn’t live in that house, I did not live with those girls. “I only had a relationship with Amanda for five days. “I feel sorry that a girl in her twenties got murdered. It’s absurd and inconceivable. But I’ve never even seen her body. “So I feel really sorry for her family – but I cannot entirely empathise with them because I did not know her.”